|
Bolivia and Argentina sign
strategic accord
•
“Brazil will never lack gas”
LA
PAZ, October 19.— Argentine President Néstor
Kirchner has welcomed the agreement on exports of
Bolivian gas to his country, which could total some
$20 billion over 20 years, whilst his host Evo
Morales took the opportunity to assure President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that Brazil “will never
lack gas”.
|
Presidents of Argentina and
Bolivia advance in integration. (AP)
|
Kirchner, according to AP, said that he had arrived
in Bolivia at Morales’ request to sign the agreement
“for the whole of Latin American society” because
“it is a fundamental strategic step” for the two
nations.
For
his part, Morales was continuously applauded by the
thousands of people who had gathered at the Gilberto
Parejas coliseum, shouting “Evo keeps his word, Evo
keeps his word.”
Morales confirmed that the accord with Argentina
will provide Bolivia with an annual income worth $1
billion, not just for the next 20 years but for
several decades afterwards.
He
stated that this would be achieved through the
construction of a gas pipeline in the north east of
Argentina in order to distribute Bolivian gas, and
also an energy plant to be built on the Bolivian
border. |
